Baksheesh is the grease by which civilization avoids friction. To pay for the services and good offices of someone in a position to give you some assistance, and to pay for that help before you get it is very efficient. Baksheesh can lead to a great deal of goodwill, and we practice it in our own way in the West (like insurance). Heady stuff, that. A rich melange of red fruits and suave flowers combines with the pungency of peppers from the mysterious East. A bit of dark black musk holds it all down to the ground. Delicious. Jamil!

The picture is a detail of Bosch’s painting in the 7 Deadly Sins image and it is “Avarice”. The original is in the Prado in Madrid, Spain.